


Misfire

by shuuvee



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Crack, Fantasy, Fluff, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 20:32:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17794268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuuvee/pseuds/shuuvee
Summary: Junhui is sworn to secrecy when he's recruited by a shadowy government agency. His first target, Xu Minghao, may just be his last.Maybe he's not cut out to be Cupid.





	Misfire

“ _Whoooooooooaaaaaaaaaa._ ”

Seokmin silently punched him on the shoulder, earning a yelp from him. “You’re so easily impressed, Junhui,” Seokmin muttered. “It’s a little embarrassing.”

He couldn’t help himself -- walking into the cavernous room was overwhelming, like he was walking into a scene from a movie. “It’s like a military base,” Junhui replied, rubbing his arm. It was definitely like a command room, just with a lot of _pink_. It certainly wasn’t like what he was expecting, futuristic-looking monitors manned by people of all ages and genders lined up in bowed rows, one above the other like an auditorium. The occupants were either deeply focused on the monitor or in a hushed, nervous-sounding chatter. In the front was a massive curved screen showing a live feed of a “Class A” target, it said in the corner. Junhui squinted a little, trying to figure out who they were and what they were doing. After a few moments of wracking his brain trying to figure out why the target looked so familiar, he heard the room erupt in cheers as the target turned her face, the live feed breaking into a picture-in-picture of another in cognito man. Junhui knew who she was -- a famous actress, and it looked like they were in an airport.

Soonyoung shook his head. “It’s usually not this interesting,” he explained. “But that was a complex target because of her public standing, you know?”

Junhui smiled a little. “So it _is_ like a military base.”

“More like mission control for NASA,” Seokmin blurted, like he suddenly knew everything about CUPID HQ despite having walked through the door five seconds ago just like Junhui.

Soonyoung shrugged. “Sure, if that helps you. But don’t get your hopes up,” Soonyoung elaborated, walking down the steps leading toward a pair of empty stations on the left third of the HQ. “Most of our targets aren’t, like, that cool. You know, lovestruck teenagers, horny college students, nervous twenty-somethings. Occasionally an older couple. And even if we did get another celebrity, we certainly wouldn’t be giving them to either of you.”

Their mentor looked over his shoulder just in time to catch the end of Junhui’s frown. Soonyoung was focused on Seokmin, though. “Prodigy or not,” he added.

It was true, Seokmin _was_ a prodigy. Effortlessly outgoing and personable, he was also an ace archer in the practical exam for CUPID. Junhui barely skirted by, mostly because of his personality. It’s not like he was _bad_ at shooting arrows -- it’s more that Seokmin was _too good_. Junhui was just, you know, _good_. 

Seokmin shot him a confused look. And if Seokmin was confused, then Junhui was probably so painfully oblivious that he legitimately had no idea what was going on.

“First thing’s first,” Soonyoung started up again, pausing in front of their stations. “Sign in with your credentials so you can read up on your targets. We start you on someone easy -- a Class D -- so that you can see how hard field work is and leave us alone about it until you’re actually ready.”

Junhui took the farther station, quickly logging in and seeing his target pop up, a girl at a local university. 

“Read up on your target, consult your manual, grab your bow from under your station, and try not to screw up,” Soonyoung counseled. “Not that it matters if you screw up, we’ll have someone clean up your mess if needed. Just try --”

“New targets,” a gruff-sounding voice interjected. Junhui looked up from his computer, seeing a short black-haired dude holding two manila folders. “ _Don’t screw up_ ,” he demanded, shoving the materials in their direction.

“Well, isn’t he a ray of sunshine?” Seokmin muttered.

Soonyoung laughed a little. “Who? Jihoon?” he asked. “He’s always like that. It helps to have analytic, level-headed people in charge of matchmaking.

“Class C?” Seokmin asked. “What? I thought we were getting a Class D?”

Junhui looked down at his new target and he noticed the same thing. “Mine too.”

“What, let me see,” Soonyoung instructed, taking Seokmin’s file. After a few grunts, Soonyoung handed the file back over. “Class C’s aren’t too much harder. They’re usually just more cautious.”

“Cautious?” Junhui asked. “Aren’t we just shooting them with an arrow?”

Seokmin loudly guffawed from his own station. “Did you even _read_ the manual, Junhui? Most arrows are used from point-blank range so you hit the right target. And the arrow does all the work... it’s automatically programmed to make the target fall in love with the match, even if they aren’t near each other that moment. The hardest part is getting close enough to your target without them suspecting you and without looking out of place.”

“Right,” Junhui feigned. “I knew all of that.”

Soonyoung tutted, shaking his head a little. “Let me know if you need anything. Especially you, Junhui.”

With that, Soonyoung bounded back up toward the top of CUPID HQ, leaving Junhui with an overzealous Seokmin. Junhui flipped back to the first page of his folder, looking at the boy smiling back at him in the target intel section.

 _Xu Minghao_.  


* * *

* * *

* * *

  
Being a Cupid was an elite job. The CUPID program was a clandestine arm of the government -- people knew about _cupids_ in the abstract, but they didn’t know that there were actually real Cupids going around shooting them with arrows, making them fall in love with each other. Recruits were selected from top-tier universities, with a heavy focus on computationally-minded students for matchmaking and outgoing archers for Cupids. Those who flunked out of the test never really knew what the program was, but the lucky ones like Junhui and Seokmin were told enough to do their jobs. Nobody really knew how CUPID came about, but Junhui overheard Soonyoung grumbling about how they wouldn’t tell him either.

Junhui quickly decided that Seokmin was born to be a Cupid. The recruits were all tested for their personality along with a focus on accuracy, balance, and, of course, archery practicals. But Seokmin also had an element of determination: he could put his nose down, study the manual, interrogate his target’s file, and come up with a foolproof plan in moments. Three days was the median, but they had a whole week to work on their Class C. After only one day of stalking his target, Seokmin had somehow worked out a plan to hit his target the next day. “He shouldn’t even be C,” Seokmin mused before leaving. After Seokmin bounded out of HQ, Junhui snatched his file and found that Jeon Wonwoo seemed even harder than Xu Minghao. He shook his head and reclined in his seat, the HQ clearing out.

Seokmin was right… he should have read his manual _before_ coming to work. While Seokmin had been out in the field all day, Junhui was stuck inside trying to speed-read a 467-page manual on CUPID and being a Cupid. It was dense, boring, and extremely technical. He couldn’t pay attention for more than a few minutes at a time, his focus ping-ponging from the manual to his target’s file to the screensaver on his terminal. By the time Seokmin got back from his little recon mission, Junhui had barely made it 30 pages deeper into the manual. It was hopeless -- he was hopeless. At this point, he was just going to have to wing it. He should have read that manual because he was so hopeless. He was going to get fired after his first job.

Junhui pulled Minghao’s file back out. Seokmin had been babbling about how he had covertly worked his way into his target’s zumba class earlier that day, and how he had signed up for a membership at his local gaming cafe. It was all clandestine-this and mysterious-that. Minghao had his own hobbies -- dance trainer at a local studio, weekly paint classes, regular at a coffee shop in his neighborhood. But Junhui knew he wasn’t good at being a spy, at being invisible. He was socially clumsy, loud, and kind of ridiculous. He stood out in a dorky way.

What if he became Minghao’s friend?


End file.
